Rent
by KatyCatGleek1694
Summary: "You said you were lucky that we were all friends. But it was us baby, who were the lucky ones. . ." Glee and Rent are twisted into a romantic, strong, powerful story of how eight friends came together in one year. . . . . . Rated M for suggestive themes


**Author's note: **

**Hey, my angels, darlings and gleeks! Dani here with my good friend Scout (MarchingbandGleek XD) and we r both so delighted to present u the first story we r writing together: Rent! My favorite movie mixed with Glee, my favorite show in the entire world, we promise u that u will b nothing short of satisfied. We appreciate reviews and comments, so we can b naive and thinking u all r gonna love it, but we can guarantee u that u will love it! XOXOXOXO ;)-Luv Dani and Scout! **

* * *

**Artie: Mark (a film maker) **

**Finn: Roger (a guitarist) **

**Rachel: Mimi (a dancer) **

**Britney: Maureen (a performance artist) **

**Santana: Joanne (a lawyer) **

**Kurt: Angel (a percussionist) **

**Blaine: Collins (a college professor) **

**Jesse: Benny (a landlord) **

**Wes: Waiter **

**Sandy: Drug dealer **

_Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes  
Five hundred twenty five thousand moments so dear  
Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes  
How do you measure, measure a year?_

_In daylights, in sunsets  
In midnights, in cups of coffee  
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife  
In five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes  
How do you measure, a year in the life?_

_How about love?  
How about love?  
How about love?  
Measure in love_

_Seasons of love (love)  
Seasons of love(love)_

_Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes  
Five hundred twenty five thousand journeys to plan  
Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes  
How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?_

_In truths that she learned  
Or in times that he cried  
In bridges he burned or the way that she died_

_It's time now, to sing out  
Though the story never ends  
Let's celebrate  
Remember a year in the life of friends_

_Remember the love  
(Oh, you got to, you got to remember the love)  
Remember the love  
(You know that love is a gift from up above)  
Remember the love  
(Share love, give love, spread love)  
Measure in love  
(Measure, measure your life in love)_

_Seasons of love  
Seasons of love  
(Measure your life, measure your life in love)_

_**December 24**__**th**__**, 1989, nine pm, Eastern Standard Time. From here on end, I shoot without a script. See if anything comes of it, instead of my own shit. . . . . . **_

Artie Abrams shook his head as he put down his video camera. He just saw a person mistreating an innocent homeless man. He couldn't believe how cruel the entire world could be, especially in New York, of all the places on Earth. He set his camera down on his lap and began to sing, racing through the NYC traffic.

_How do you document real life  
When real life's getting more like fiction each day?  
Headlines, bread-lines blow my mind  
And now this deadline, eviction or pay rent!_

Meanwhile in their New York City apartment, Finn was sitting on the couch, playing his guitar and trying to write a song.

_How do you write a song when the chords sound wrong  
Though they once sounded right and rare?  
When the notes are sour  
Where is the power you once had to ignite the air?_

Meanwhile, Artie raced through town to get to the apartment.

_We're hungry and frozen_

Finn continued singing.

_Some life that we've chosen! _

They then began to sing together.

_How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay?  
How we gonna pay? Last year's rent?_

The telephone began ringing just as Artie entered the apartment. He raced to the phone.

"Hello!" he said, picking it up.

"_Heey!" _said a familiar mid-western drawl. _"Guess whose back in town! It's Anderson man! Throw down the keys!" _

Finn and Artie were both shocked that Blaine was back so soon from the MIT. They haven't seen him in a year; as he's been so busy teaching. Artie rushed over to the balcony. "Yo!" he shouted to Blaine, catching a glimpse of the dapper young man way too much gel in his curly black hair.

Blaine caught the keys as they fell to the concrete. He was just about to head to the door when he saw three guys just standing there.

"You got a light, man?" one of them asked.

"Yeah," Blaine was about to get one out of his pocket.

But that was when the thugs decided to do what they had planned out the whole time. They chased Blaine down the street into an alley and proceeded to beat the living crap out of him, kicking him in the stomach and punching him in the face until they got his stuff.

Meanwhile in the apartment, Finn and Artie were in the process of lighting candles and running through the apartment as they did do.

_How do you start a fire when there's nothing to burn  
And it feels like something's stuck in your flue?  
How can you generate heat when you can't feel your feet?  
And they're turning blue_

Finn and Artie proceeded to rip apart posters, screenplays, unused paper, and broken furniture and dump them into an empty trashcan, and set it on fire. They then continued to sing together.

_You light up a mean blaze with posters and screenplays  
How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay?  
How we gonna pay? Last year's rent?_

Meanwhile, in the alley, Blaine slowly began sitting up.

_How do you stay on your feet when on every street?  
It's trick or treat and tonight it's trick  
Welcome back to town I should lie down  
Everything's brown and uh-oh, I feel sick! _

Artie stuck his head out the balcony. Where was Blaine?

_Where is he? _

Blaine began to lie down on the uncomfortable pavement.

_Getting dizzy_

Artie and Finn looked out their window and saw all their neighbors already lighting things on fire and throwing them out the window.

_How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay?  
How we gonna pay? Last year's rent?_

_The music ignites the night with passionate fire  
The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit  
Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground  
And feel the heat of the future's glow_

_How do you leave the past behind  
When it keeps finding ways to get to your heart?  
It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out  
'Til you're torn apart, rent_

_How can you connect in an age  
Where strangers, landlords, lovers  
Your own blood cells betray?_

_What binds the fabric together  
When the raging, shifting winds of change  
Keep ripping away_

As Artie and Finn dumped the flaming trash out the window, they caught sighting of a Range Rover.

_Jesse, _Artie thought. _Great!_

Jesse St. James got out of his car and into the street, staring up at Finn and Artie with a shocked expression painted on his features, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

_Draw a line in the sand and then make a stand! _he sang out.

But Artie and Finn already made up their minds. They weren't taking any shit from him ever again.

_Use your camera to spar, use your guitar  
When they act tough, you call their bluff! _

_We're not gonna pay, we're not gonna pay  
We're not gonna pay, last year's rent  
This year's rent, next year's rent_

_Rent, rent, rent, rent, rent  
We're not gonna pay rent  
'Cause everything is rent! _

Everyone had crowded out into the streets and was now cursing at Jesse in anger. Jesse turned to see a homeless man sitting on his car.

"Hey, bum," he said. "Get your ass off the Range Rover!"

The homeless man moved away, backing off instantly.

"Hey, Jesse, that attitude toward the homeless is exactly what Brittany is protesting!" Artie yelled down.

"Brittany is protesting losing her performance space!" Jesse rolled his eyes. "Not my attitude. Come on down! I wanna talk to ya!" Jesse got back into his car with a scoff.

Artie rolled his eyes and proceeded to roll out of the apartment. However, Finn caught sight of something that grabbed his attention. It was a very gorgeous girl with a dancer's body, clad in a leopard jacket and smoking what appeared to be weed. She looked up at him and smiled a brilliant smile, her chocolate eyes glittering and her shiny dark hair glowing in the moonlight, as well as the light from the flames that ignited the streets in a bright glow against puddles from melting snow. He instantly turned away blinking away tears and wiping his eyes. That last thing he wanted was a reminder of. . . . he didn't even want to think about it. It was so hard for him to deal with. He used to believe that if he didn't talk about it with anybody, not even his best friends, it would make the situation less panful, but it made him feel worse every time.

Jesse drove a little bit closer to the sidewalk. The minute he got out, Artie was filming him with his camcorder.

"Close up: Jesse St. James III," Artie was saying. "Our ex-roommate who married Allison Grey of the Westport Greys. His father-in law bought several buildings on the block, and a nearby vacant lot, home to Tent City. Jesse hopes to evict all of the homeless from Tent City and build a cyber-studio." Jesse was in the process of tearing down posters of Brittany S. Pierce. She had been working on a performance to save their homes from this project for months, in fact the whole year.

"Finn, looking good for a couple of guys pulling off a year of withdrawal," Jesse said sarcastically, smirking at the two of them.

Finn glared at him coldly. "What do you want, Jesse?"

"What do I want? Well, um, my investor-" he began.

Artie immediately cut in. "You mean your father-in-law?"

"Right, read about Brittany's performance in the _Village Voice_. He got pissed and sent me down here to collect the rent," Jesse said.

"What rent?" Artie demanded.

"This past year's rent which I let slide," Jesse said firmly.

"Let slide? You said that we were golden!" Artie was shocked that Jesse would betray them even more.

"When you bought the building," Finn added in.

"When we were roommates? Remember you lived here?" Artie asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, how can I forget? You, me, Anderson and Brittany," Jesse said as he continued to tear down posters. "How is the drama queen?"

"She's getting ready for performance," Artie said shrugging.

"Yeah I know. You still her production manager?" Jesse asked, as if he cared.

"Not exactly," Artie said.

"You still datin' her?" Jesse continued, uninterested.

"I was dumped," Artie said finally.

"She's head over heels in love," Finn joked. He was having fun with this.

"Oh, Finn! Would you shut up?" Artie demanded, officially pissed. This was the fifth time Finn made a joke about what had happened between Artie and Brittany.

"She got a new man?" Jesse asked, curious as to where this was headed.

"Well. . . . no," Artie said.

"What's his name?" Jesse asked. He was going to continue to jab. It was the only way you could ever get a straight answer out of Artie.

"Santana," Finn and Artie finally said together, looking at each other.

That was what caused Jesse to lean over and laugh hysterically. That was so Brittany! He knew it was only a matter of time, considering that for Brittany guys and girls didn't matter. She could be dating a guy yet making out with a homeless chick at the same time.

"Thanks for being so understanding," Artie said, officially depressed.

"Oh you expect sympathy from the guy who shut off our power on Christmas Eve?" Finn demanded.

Jesse continued to laugh. "It got your attention, didn't it?" he asked.

Finn stepped forward to Jesse and sang,

_What happened to Jesse_

_What happened to his heart_

_And the ideals he once pursued_

Jesse sang,

_And the owner of that lot next door_

_Has a right to do with it as he pleases_

_Happy Birthday, Jesus,_

Finn sang out sarcastically calmly and stepped away.

_The Rent!_ Jesse said throwing the paper at Finn.

Artie rolled up to Jesse and sang, _You're wasting your time._

_We're broke,_ Finn stated.

_And you broke your word, this is absurd,_ Artie sang and sighed.  
_  
There is one way, you won't have to pay._ Jesse stayed where he was standing. Finn leaned against the car,

_I knew it._

_Next door, the home of Cyberarts, you see_

_And now that the block is re-zoned_

_Our dream can become a reality, _Jesse sang and walked over to the boys.  
_  
You'll see boys._ He stepped between them.

_You'll see boys,_ he sang again.

Jesse spread his arms and walked on the sidewalk away from Artie and Finn as he sang, _A state of the art, digital, virtual interactive studio_

_I'll forego your rent_

_and on paper guarantee_

_That you can stay here for free!  
_  
He hopped off the side walk. There was one more catch.

_If you do me one small favor,_ Jesse said.

_What?_ Artie asked.

_Convince Brittany to cancel her protest.._ Jesse answered.

Artie rolled forward towards Jesse, _Why not just get an injunction or call the cops? _He questioned.

Jesse walked over to a post as he said, _Yeah I did, and they're on standby._

He tore down one of the posters and sang, _But my investors would rather_

_I handle this quietly  
_  
Finn walked up, "You can't just quietly wipe out an entire tent city

Then watch 'It's A Wonderful Life' on TV!" he exclaimed, angrily.

Jesse asked Finn, "You want to produce films and write songs?!"

He sang, _You need somewhere to do it!_ He pointed at Finn.

_It's what we used to dream about.  
Think twice before you pull through it!_ Finn turned away and Jesse walked backwards as he sang,

_You'll see boys!_ He turned around,  
_  
You'll see boys!_

He sang _You'll see, the beauty of the studio!  
That lets us do our work and paid. _He turned to look at them.

He imagined what he sang, making gestures with his hands,  
_With Condos on the top, Whose rent keeps open our shop!_

Jesse turned to both Finn and Artie again.  
_  
Just stop the protest and you'll have it made!_

Artie looked at Finn who looked back, He looked down and then back up at Jesse.

"You'll see... or you'll pack.." Jesse said before he walked away. Finn and Artie were left standing there, glaring at him as he got into his car, shaking their heads. This sucked!

* * *

**We hope u loved the first chapter. Go ahead and review away! I cannot believe that it is finally here! **


End file.
